In perfuming and flavoring practice there is generally an ongoing requirement for synthetic perfumes and flavoring agents that can be prepared inexpensively and with constant quality, remain stable on prolonged storage, if possible also in contact with other substances, and have desired olfactory or taste characteristics. Perfumes should have pleasant perfume notes of adequate intensity that are as natural as possible and be able to have an advantageous effect on the perfume of cosmetics or industrial consumer goods. Flavoring agents should be easily digestible, be reminiscent of typical flavor components of popular foods or even identical to the latter and be able to make a positive contribution to the flavor of foods, medicaments to be administered orally, and the like. Discovering perfume and flavoring agents that comply with these requirements has proved to be relatively laborious and demands regular extensive research, in particular if the aim is to find interesting novel perfume notes or flavor trends.
The search for suitable perfume or flavoring agents is made more difficult for the person skilled in the art, in particular because of the following factual issues:    The mechanisms of perfume and flavor perception are not known.    Objective, quantitative characterization of a perfume or flavor is not possible.    The relationships between perfume and/or flavor perception, on the one hand, and the chemical structure of the perfume and/or flavoring agent, on the other hand, have not been adequately researched.    Frequently even minor changes in the structural composition of known perfume or flavoring agents give rise to substantial changes in the olfactory or flavor characteristics and impair the compatibility for the human organism.
The success of the search for suitable perfume or flavoring agents therefore frequently depends on the intuition of the searcher.